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RJEPORT 




STATE BOARD 



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ENTENN1AL 1VIANAGERS 



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GOVERNOR 



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SPRINGFIELD: 

1). W. LUSK, STATE PRINTER AND BINDER. 

1877. 



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REPORT 



STATE BOARD 



Centennial Managers 



GOVERNOR 









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DECEMBER 1 876. 



SPRINGFIELD: 

D. W. LUSK, STATE PRINTER AND BINDER. 
1877. 






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MESSAGE. 



State of Illinois, Executive Department. 
Springfield, January 5, 1877. 

To the Honorable the General Assembly: 

I have the honor to advise the general assembly, that under and by 
virtue of a joint resolution of the twenty-ninth general assembly "I 
appointed Hon. John P. Reynolds, of Chicago, Cook county ; Hon. 
Carlile Mason, of Chicago, Cook Co. ; Hon. A. C. Spafford, of Rockford, 
Winnebago Co. ; Hon. Francis Colton, of Galesburg, Knox Co., and 
Hon. J. C. Smith, of Galena, Jo Daviess Co., to constitute, in connec- 
tion with Hon. F. L. Matthews, of Carlinville, Macoupin Co., and Hon. 
Lawrence Weldon, of Bloomington, McLean Co., a state board of man- 
agers to represent the interests of the State of Illinois at the inter- 
national exposition, held in the city of Philadelphia. 

The twenty-ninth general assembly appropriated the sum of $10,000 
to defray the expenses of the board of managers, and to aid in a proper 
representation of the industries of the state at the exhibition. 

The board of managers are required to make an annual report of 
their doings in the premises, and I have the honor herewith to sub- 
mit their second annual report. 

The duties of the board were delicate and responsible, and were 
faithfully performed, as will be attested by the many thousands 
who visited the centennial exhibition. 

The secretary of the board rendered valuable services, giving much 
time and labor to effect a fair representation of the mining, agricul- 
tural, mechanical, manufacturing, educational, and other interests of 
our state, and to provide for the comfort of our citizens who visited 
the centennial grounds, and I join the state board of managers in the 
recommendation of compensation for his services. 

[Signed.] JOHN L. BEVERIDGE, Governor. 



I 



REPORT 



Office of the Board of Centennial Managers, ) 
Chicago, III., December, 1876. j 

To his Excellency, John L. Beveridge, Governor of Illinois : 

In accordance with a joint resolution of the General Assembly, 
authorizing the appointment of a "State Board of Managers to rep- 
resent the interests of this State at the Centennial Exhibition to be 
held in the city of Philadelphia, in 1876," which resolution requires 
the said board to report their proceedings to your Excellency, that 
they may be submitted to the General Assembly, we hereby present 
a report of the work done by this board, together with a financial 
statement of expenditures. 

organization. 

Under the joint resolution above referred to, your Excellency ap- 
pointed the following named gentlemen, as the State Board of 
Managers : 

Hon. John P. Reynolds, Chicago; Hon. Carlile Mason, Chicago ; 
Hon. A. C. Spafforcl, Rockford ; Hon. Francis Colton, Galesburg ; Gen- 
eral J. C. Smith, Galena. 

The United States commissioner and alternate, Hon. Fred. L. Mat- 
thews, of Carlinville, and Hon. Lawrence Weldon, of Bloomington. 
were made members of the board by the resolution aforesaid. This 
board convened in the city of Chicago, June 9th, 1874, and organized 
by the election of John P. Reynolds, as President, and J. C. Smith, 
as Secretary. 

The organization having been perfected, a general plan of work 
was mapped out ; notice was given through the President to agri- 
culturists, inventors, manufacturers, and others of the coming inter- 
national exhibition ; correspondence had with the Director-General 
and other officers of the United States Centennial Commission, and 
plans agreed upon to secure space and promote the interests of exhibit- 
ors from this State. 

To accomplish the above it required the time, labor and money oi' 
the board, and as there was no authority granted in the act of the 28th 
General Assembly, to incur any expense on behalf of the State, an 
appeal was made to the 29th General Assembly, for an appropriation 



to defray the expenses of this board in performance of the duties as- 
signed them. In response to the appeal of the state board of managers, 
contained in our last report, and recommended by your Excellency in 
submitting the same to the legislature, the following bill was intro- 
duced into and adopted by the 29th General Assembly: 



For an Act to appropriate money to defray the expenses of the state 
board of managers to represent Illinois in the centennial exposi- 
tion at Philadelphia in 1876, and facilitate a proper representation 
of this State in said exposition. 

Whereas, In accordance with a joint resolution by the 28th General 
Assembly, a state board of managers, to represent the inter* 
Illinois in the centennial exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, have 
been appointed ; and 

Whereas, It is necessary to a proper discharge of their duties that 
the state should defray the necessary expenses thereof. Therefore. 

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, repre- 
sented in the General Assembly, That the sum often thousand dollars 
or so much thereof, as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the 
use of the state board of managers, to represent Illinois in the inter- 
national exposition to be held at Philadelphia in 1N76, under the 
auspices of the United States centennial eonimission. 

Sec. 2. The auditor is hereby directed to draw his warrant upon 
the treasurer upon vouchers approved by the governor, for the expenses 
incurred by said state board of managers and certified by the president 
and secretary of said board; Provided, that the members of said board 
of managers shall receive no compensation for their services. 



1776. INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION 1876. 

AND 

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

OF OUR 

NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE. 

To the Agriculturists, Manufacturers and Scientists of Illinois. 

The undersigned state board of managers, realizing the important 
duty resting upon them of preparing and securing a proper exhibit 
of the products of this State in the approaching international ex- 
position and centennial celebration at Philadelphia, earnestly appeal 
to the farmers, miners, mechanics, inventors, manufacturers and 
producers, of Illinois, and to all others interested in this peace congress 
of the nations of the world. 

This board feel justified in saying to you that the exposition is an 
assured success. Appropriately located in Fairmount Park, Philadel- 
phia, a magnificent tract of land of three thousand seven hundred 
acres, three hundred and forty acres of which are being graded and 
beautified for the centennial buildings, within four miles of the 
old state house, in which the memorable declaration or man's inalien- 
able rights to " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," was signed. 
No more suitable site couid have been selected. - 

The number and size of the buildings now in course of erection for 
the exposition, are as follows : 

Main Building — Of iron and glass, 1,880 feet in length, by 464 feet in 
width, and 70 feet in height ; floor area, 21 acres. 

Art Gallery, or Memorial Hall — Of granite, iron, and glass, 365 feet 
in length, 210 feet in width, and 59 feet in height, surmounted by a 
dome ; floor area, 2 acres. 

Machinery Building — 360 feet wide, 1,402 feet long, with addition 
on south side 208 feet by 210 feet, interior height to elevators, 70 feet ; 
floor space, 14 acres. This building is to be of masonry, iron, timber, 
and glass, roof well trussed and secured with wrought iron tie beams 
and studs; eight main lines of shafting run the entire length of the 
building. 

Horticultural Building — 383 feet long, 193 feet wide, and 72 feet 
high; floor space, 2 acres, to be properly heated and secured from lire. 



10 

Agricultural Building — 820 feet in length, 540 feet in width, and 75 
feet in height, in transept and nave: building gothic, of wood and 
glass : floor space. 10 acres. 

Near this building will be the stock yards for the exhibition of 
horses, cattle, sheep, swine, etc., for which suitable sheds and stables 
will be erected. 

The other buildings will consist of one or more hotels, railroad de- 
pot, and buildings for use of commissioners and others employed in 
and about the exposition. In addition to the above, the United States 
government is engaged in the erection of a building, the floor of which 
will embrace four and one-half acres in which to exhibit the books 
and accounts of the government, and the method of transacting busi- 
ness in the army, navy, mint, patent office, treasury, and postal de- 
partments, as well as the magnificent collection of the Smithsonian 
institute. 

The exhibition will open on the 10th of May, 1870. and close on the 
10th of November, following. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

The general regulations provide for ten departments, with sub- 
divisions and groups. The ten departments are as follows : 

1. Raw materials — mineral, vegetable and animal. 

2. Materials and manufactures used for food or in the arts, the 
result of extractive or combining processes. 

3. Textile and felted fabrics ; apparel, costumes and ornaments for 
the person. 

4. Furniture and manufactures of general use in construction and 
in dwellings. 

5. Tools, implements, and processes. 
(5. Motors and transportation. 

7. Apparatus and method for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
edge. 

8. Engineering, public works, architecture, &c. 

9. Plastic and graphic arts. 

10. Objects illustrating efforts for the improvement of the physical, 
intellectual and moral condition of man. 

Exhibitors will not be charged for space. 

A limited quantity of steam and water power will be supplied 
gratuitously. The quantity of each will be settled definitely at the 
time of the allotments of space. 

The installation of heavy articles requiring foundations, should, by 
special arrangement, be begun as soon as the progress of the work 
upon the buildings will permit it. The general reception of articles 
at the exhibition buildings will be commenced on January 1. 1876, ■ 
and no articles will be admitted after March 31st, 1876, except articles 
of a perishable nature, which can be delivered at any time before the 
opening day. 

Space not occupied on the 1st of April, 1876, will revert to the 
director-general for re-assignment. 

It is not within the province of this brief circular to give a detailed 
classification of goods, location of grounds, drawings of buildings, or 



11 . 

organization of the national commission, as papers containing a 
full description of the same maybe had on amplication t© the secretary 
of this board. 

Your particular attention is called to the fact that it is highly im- 
portant that this board be notified at the earliest possible time by all 
who desire space in which to exhibit works of art, inventions, manu- 
factured articles, products of the mine, quarry or soil ; of the character 
of the articles, space required and power needed, that their applica- 
tions may be forwarded through this office to the director-general. 

Illinois has within her territory almost unlimited resources, with a 
soil and climate capable of growing all the products' of the temperate 
zone; with vast deposits of coal and mineral wealth ; with scientific 
inventors and skilled artisans, the Prairie State has every essential 
requisite to render her department attractive and creditable. 

Upon you, however, rests the responsibility and labor necessary to 
make a proper exhibit in this international exposition, where the 
products of your soil, mines, workshops and studios may be examined 
fey the representative people of the civilized world, and whereby our 
state may invite the capital of other nations to aid in the develop- 
ment of your industries. 

We close our appeal with an earnest request that you promptly for- 
ward a brief description of the articles you w T ish to exhibit, and an 
application for space — blanks for which can be had on application, by 
mail or otherwise, from the secretary of this board, who will promptly 
answer all questions relating to the international exposition. 
Address, General J. C. Smith, 

Secretary State Centennial Board. 

85 Washington street, Chicago, 111. 

John P. Reynolds, President, Chicago. 

F. L. Matthews, U. S. Com'r, Carlinville. 

Law t rence Weldon, Alternate, Bloomington. 

Carlile Mason, Chicago. 

Francis Colton, Galesburg, 

Amos C. Spafford, Rockford. 

J. C. Smith, Secretary. 
Through the active agency of the press, which exhibited more in- 
terest than had been anticipated, applications for space were rapidly 
forwarded, and the correspondence of the secretary's office largely in- 
creased. Dr. J. M. Gregory, regent of the industrial university, was 
the first to make application for space in which to make a full display 
of the mechanical and scientific departments of his school. At the same 
time the different state institutions, through their boards of managers 
or superintendents, were invited to unite with him in one general plan 
of action. The state normal school, colleges and seminaries were then 
aroused, and united with the public schools, under the superintendent 
of public instruction, Hon. S. M. Etter, Dr. J. M. Gregory generously 
surrendered the space awarded him, and all uniting in one application, 
space was secured for one grand educational display, which reflected 
credit upon the State. The state board of agriculture, under its effi- 
cient officers and the immediate superintendence of the committee, 
consisting of Louis Ellsworth, secretary, S. D. Fisher and H. D. Emery, 
began the collection of cereals and other products of the soil. 



CIRCULARS TO THE PUBLIC. 

Circulars were issued, and the public were informed at all times of 
the progress made in the erection of the buildings by the United 
States commissioners, as well as the work being done by the state 
board, of which circulars the following addressed to the press was 
among the most important : 

TO THE EDITORS OF ILLINOIS. 

Gentlemen : — I am directed by the state board of centennial man- 
agers to request the aid of yourself and the influence of your press to 
remind the farmers, miners, mechanics, and inventors of Illinois that 
the time in which to file applications for space in the industrial ex- 
position at Philadelphia has nearly expired, and to urge upon them 
the importance of making, a full exhibit of their farms, mines, and 
workshops. 

The following is the action of the state board, which please cop} 7 ,, 
and call the attention of your readers thereto : 

At a recent meeting of the state board of centennial managers, held 
in Chicago, resolutions were adopted to which we wish to call the at- 
tention of all our readers, and particularly those who have articles 
which they wish to exhibit in tne state centennial exposition of 1876. 
We would impress upon their minds the fact that all applications for 
space must be made immediately, that our state may be' fully and 
creditably represented. No manufacturing establishment of any im- 
portance can afford to lose this splendid opportunity for exhibiting its 
specialties of manufactured articles, machinery or fabrics. Self-interest, 
state pride, national honor demand an immediate effort on the part of 
all such parties. 

Not only should manufacturers, agriculturists, and inventors make 
their applications, but also the proprietors of mines and quarries should 
secure space immediately for the exhibition of raw materials, neatly 
prepared, so that the various excellencies of their products may be 
properly shown. 

Facilities for transportation and exhibition will be secured by the 
state centennial board, and information given in due time. 

Resolved, That the proprietors of the different newspapers published 
in the state of Illinois be requested to furnish a file of their journals 
from May 10, 1876, to November 10, 1876, to be placed in the reading- 
room of the Illinois headquarters for the benefit of the citizens visiting 
the centennial. 

Resolved, That we earnestly solicit a general and hearty co-operation 
of the press of the state in urging the importance of immediate atten- 
tion to this matter, and especially in strongly impressing upon the 
public the fact that within the next thirty days all applications for 
space must be filed. Warmly appreciating the value of the generous 
efforts put forth by the press to aid us in securing a representation in 
the Illinois department, we respectfully request that they will give 
conspicuous reference to the fact that applications for space in the Illi- 
nois department must be made prior to December 1st to General J. C. 
Smith, secretary of the Illinois state centennial board, No. 85 Wash- 



14 

ington street. Chicago, and that the reception ofarticles at the exposi- 
tion built lins;.-! will begin January 5th, and close April loth, the 
exposition to open May 10th, and close November 10th, 1876. 

Resolved, That the state board of centennial managers most heartily 
approve of the formation of the woman's centennial association, and 
cordially commend their organization to the citizen- of the state at 
large. 

Resolved, That the secretary of this board be instructed to forward 
a copy of these proceedings to each newspaper in the 3tate, with a 
request that they publish the same. 

John P. Reynolds, President, 

F. L. Matthews, Carlinville. 

Lawrence Weldon, Bloomington. 

Carlile Mason, Chicago. 

Francis Colton, Galesburg. 

Amos C. Spafford, Rockford. 

J. C. Smith, Secretary. 

STATE BUILDING. 

It early became apparent to your board that they would be com- 
pelled to erect a state building in Fairmount Park, at Philadelphia, 
for the accommodation of the citizens of the state visiting the exposi- 
tion in attendance as exhibitors — a place where our people could 
receive and write letters, consult files of their home newspapers, reg- 
ister their names so as to enable them to find friends, obtain informa- 
tion relating to the exposition, and, more important than all those, a 
place under the charge of competent persons where they could con- 
gregate for conversation and rest, and when sick they could be cared 
for. 

How to erect and maintain such a building with the limited means 
at the command of your board, was a serious question. Other states 
and countries were engaged in the erection of such buildings, or per- 
fecting plans for the same. None of these, however, had at their com- 
mand resources so limited as the state board of Illinois. There wen 
erected upon the centennial grounds in Fairmount Park some twenty- 
five state buildings, and twelve for the use of visitors from foreign 
countries, all under the charge of their respective commissioner-. 
Of the former, those of New Jersey and Michigan cost $15,000.00 or 
more, while the buildings erected by the British commission, and 
afterwards presented to the city of Philadelphia, were constructed at 
an expense of $55,000.00. About one-third of these buildings were 
small, having few or no conveniences, while the other two-thirds were 
upon a much larger plan than that finally adopted by your hoard. 
The reason for this was that the state boards of the latter had at their 
disposal sums varying from twenty thousand to fifty thousand dollars 
and more, while Illinois had but ten thousand dollars. 

Having decided upon the erection of a building alike creditable to 
the State and suited to the wants of our people, architects and 
builders were consulted, when it was found that to secure this result 
it would become necessary to abandon the publication of the contem- 
plated history of Illinois, a book, for which much of the material had 
been prepared and which was intended to contain a brief account of 



15 

the earl} r settlement and political history of the State, its geology, 
climatology, coal fields, minerals, soil and agricultural productions. 
This book had been intended for distribution and exchange with the 
foreign and state commissioners. 

On a careful consideration it was decided to return all manuscripts 
prepared by the state officers and other persons, and that no book be 
published, as all money at the command of this board would be re- 
quired for the erection and maintenance of the proposed building. 
This manuscript was returned, except that portion prepared by the 
Hon. Anson S. Miller of Rockford, which relates to the early history 
of this state, and contains valuable information collected during the 
busy life of the writer. We submit this paper with our report that it 
may be printed as a part thereof. 

Plans and specifications for the building were prepared free of charge, 
by Messrs. Wheelock & Thomas, architects, of Chicago, and the con- 
tract for the erection of the same was let to Jonathan Clark, a prac- 
tical builder, of the same city. 

The state board takes pleasure in acknoAvledging the kindness of 
each of these gentlemen, as they will, in the proper place, the indebt- 
edness to all persons who came to their aid in the donation of material 
with which to assist in erecting and furnishing this building in a 
manner creditable to the state. 




DESCRIPTION OF BUILDING 



The state building was of the gothic style, and designed to represent 
an Illinois farm house or suburban residence, such as is frequently 
seen in the vicinity of large cities, the exterior, as well as interior 
being painted a pure white. It presented a neat and bright appearance, 
the more marked by reason of being the only white building on the 
centennial grounds,' thereby attracting the attention of all the persons 
passing along the State avenue; it was very properly just west of the 
Indiana state building, and east of the Wisconsin. The house was 
fortv by sixty, with a rear addition two stories high, and of irregular 



16 

form, with two gables in front, the central one being lower than that 
at the west end. At the southeast corner was a tower, octagon in form, 
surmounted with a*beautiful spire and a tall tapering staff, from which 
floated our nation and state colors during the entire exhibition. On 
the east, west, and north sides were constructed gables similar to those 
in front, since the building could be viewed from all sides, it being 
located on a plat of ground beautifully laid out in shrubbery, (lowers, 
and graveled walks. In the front and centre of this plat, on a raised 
pedestal, was placed a fine bust of Abraham Lincoln, kindly loaned 
by the Chicago zinc roofing and ornamental works, of Chicago. A 
piazza, extending along the entire front of the building, as also the 
east and west sides, thus furnishing shade and a pleasant resting place 
to all visitors, at the same time being so situated as to command a line 
view of nearly all the exhibition and state buildings. The piazzas 
were furnished with seats from the firm of A. H. Andrews A- Co.. of 
Chicago. 

The main entrance doors opened into a reception room extending 
across the entire front, the floors and wainscoting of which was of white 
oak and black walnut, oiled and polished. At each end was a fire 
grate and handsome mantel of a peculiar shade and design, manufac- 
tured by the Frear marble stone company, of Chicago. These mantels 
attracted much attention, and from their beauty and novelty were the 
admiration of all visitors. 

The room was furnished with suitable chairs and settees, a visitor's 
register was open to all Illinoisans, water coolers were kept constantly 
filled with ice water during the heated term, and in cold or wet weather 
a bright, cheerful fire was made in each of the fire grates. This room, 
so elegant in all its appointments, was made more attractive by the 
addition of many choice and valuable paintings, loaned by II. A. 
Elkins, an artist of Chicago; a cabinetorgan from the house of A. Reed 
& Sons, of the same city, who also furnished the Chickering piano for 
the ladies' parlor, afforded ample opportunity tor a display of skill on 
the part of amateur musicians, which they were not slow to embrace, 
and which proved very acceptable and entertaining to the visitors. 
From the main reception-room, and on the west side, opened a beaut i- 
ful drawing-room for ladies, and from this, retiring and toilet rooms. 
The parlor was elegantly furnished with mahogany furniture, up- 
holstered with crimson and gold by Messrs. James T. Allen A Co.. of 
New York city, to whom the board are under special obligations for 
their generous liberality. The beautiful tapestry carpets were furnished 
by Messrs. Field, Leiter & Co., of Chicago, and the invalid chairs in 
the retiring-room, which did so much good service, wen' from the 
manufacturer, George Wilson, of the latter city. 

This parlor was further adorned by the addition of choice paintings 
from Mr. Elkins, and the Chickering piano, before referred to. which 
was kept in constant use by the fair and accomplished daughl 
the prairie state. 

From the center of the main reception-room an arched passage led 
to an open stainvay, with black walnut rail and ballusters, and wains- 
coting same as reception-room. This stairway led to the four upper 
rooms, which were for the use of the commissioners, the matron, and 
others employed in the charge of the building, and any person from 



17 

the state who might be taken suddenly ill. These rooms were neatly 
furnished by the Tobey manufacturing company, of Chicago. 

This arched passage-way also led to the rear addition, which was 
divided into a servant's-room, store-room for parcels, and gentlemens' 
toilet-room. East of the stairway was the reading-room, with floor and 
wainscoting of hard wood, in which were racks ranging around the 
entire room upon which were filed the various newspapers so kindly 
furnished by the entire editorial fraternity in all parts of the state, 
affording ample opportunity to visitors for reading papers and writing 
letters. Twenty-five reams of letter paper and twenty-eight thousand 
envelopes were furnished the citizens of our state free of charge, a 
courtesy fully appreciated by all, and the more marked from the fact 
that the Illinois state board was the only one which did so. 

From the reading-room, and east of the same, was the secretary's 
private office, in which was located the letter-box (donated by C. A. 
Cook, of Chicago,) for the delivery of all mail directed to the state build- 
ing. This was under the charge of a competent person, as was also the 
reading-room. 

In the reception-room, ladies parlor, and reading-room were beauti- 
ful chandeliers, and in all other rooms there were pendants and bracket 
lights, kindly loaned by E. Baggot & Sons, of Chicago, and Messrs. 
Thackara, Buck & Co., of Philadelphia. 

To these gentlemen, and all -others whose names have thus far ap- 
peared in this report, this board, and the people of Illinois, are under 
a lasting debt of gratitude ; it was owing to their generosity in fur- 
nishing, free of charge, the various articles named that the state build- 
ing was made so comfortable and attractive. 

The value of the Illinois building in comfort and convenience to the 
people of our state cannot be overestimated — visitors from all the states 
and foreign countries crossed its threshhold, thousands entering its 
doors, of which more than seventy-five thousand were from Illinois, 
forty-five thousand of whom recorded their names on the elegant regis- 
ters made and donated by Messrs. Culver, Page & Hoyne, of the city 
of Chicago. Two hundred and twenty-five newspapers, from various 
parts of the state, were regularly filed and daily consulted by thousands 
of visitors. Twenty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-six letters 
were received and delivered, only six hundred and eighty-five being 
returned to the postoffice as uncalled for. 

Seventeen hundred and fifty-eight packages were taken care of by 
the parcel clerk, not one of which was lost. 

No charges were made and no money accepted from any person for 
newspapers, envelopes, letter paper, or any service rendered the vis- 
itors. In this respect the Illinois headquarters were an exception to 
all others in Fairmount park, and more particularly in the more im- 
portant service rendered to the sick, over one hundred of whom were 
kindly and tenderly cared for by the lady in charge of the building, 
many being too ill to be removed for several days, not a sick person 
from our state was ever permitted to be taken from the building to the 
centennial hospital. No other state has such a record ; none others 
provided for such an emergency. 

To the gentlemen who assisted with their generous donations of ma- 
terial and furniture with which to help erect and furnish the state 
9, 



18 

building, this board is indebted; without their aid no building credit- 
able to this, the fourth state in the union, could have been erected, or 
if erected, sustained. Encouraged by their liberality, and believing 
that the general assembly would make a proper allowance for the out- 
lay, no individual expense was spared by those in charge of this build- 
ing to sustain the dignity and honor of our state. 

The estimated cost of this building was $6,735 65 

Furnishing the same 3,552 30 

Total $10,387 95 

A sum larger than the state appropriated. 

The names of those to whom this board are indebted for material aid 
are given at the close of this report. 



20 



CIRCULAR. 



The following circular, one of several issued previous to the opening 
of the exposition, enumerate many of the uses for which the state 
building was erected. Electrotype plates of this and several of the ex- 
hibition buildings accompany this report : 



Secretary's Office 
Centennial State Board of Managers 
Chicago, Mav 1, 1870, 



1 



Dear Sir: — I am directed by the state board of managers to inform 
you that the state building will be completed on the 5th day of May. 
and request that you forward on the receipt of this circular, and con- 
tinue until the close of the exposition (November 10), one copy of your 
paper, to be placed on file for the use of visitors. 

The state building has been erected for the accommodation of the citi- 
zens of Illinois attending the international exposition, to provide a 
place where they may consult files of their state journals, meet with 
friends, receive their mails, and obtain information pertaining to the 
exposition. 

There will be a competent person in charge of the state building 
who will at all times give such information as may be required, and a 
clerk with whom all small packages may be deposited, who will take 
charge of such articles as shawls, overcoats, satchels, etc., free of charge. 

There will be one reception-room for general use, with private parlor 
and wash-room for the ladies; a reading-room in which daily and 
weekly files of the state newspapers will be fouud. and where the repre- 
sentatives of the press will find suitable accommodation. 

A register will be kept, in which all visitors will be requested to 
enter their names, home residences, where stopping in the city, and 
how long they will remain. 

This will prove valuable for reference, and enable every one to find 
their friends. 

All persons wishing to receive their mail at the state building will 
have it addressed to their name, care Illinois state building, centennial 
grounds, Philadelphia, Pa. 

All newspapers for file, and letters on matters pertaining to the ex- 
position, should be addressed to General J. C.Smith, Illinois state 
building, centennial grounds, Philadelphia, Pa. As this circular con- 
tains matters of general information to the people, you will please give 
it publicly through your columns. 

Respectfully yours, 

J.C.SMITH, Secretary. 



22 



INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 



Of the general exhibition, the good effect upon the industries of the 
nation, advantages to all classes of visitors, and grand success, it is not 
necessary to speak in detail, as more full and elaborate reports will be 
published by the United States commission, who alone have the 
proper material from which to give all the facts. It can be said that 
in this exposition, Illinois did her part, and did it well, ranking as 
sixth in number of exhibitors and amount of space occupied. The 
citizens of this state bore off their full share of the prizes, very many 
of whom have expressed, in terms of gratitude, their indebtedness to 
your State Board for their labors in securing to them a full and im- 
partial consideration of the merits of their exhibits. 

When we consider our distance from the place of exhibition, the 
fact that trade is still depressed from the late panic, our principal city 
not yet recovered from the disastrous conflagration which destroyed 
the leading business houses, the result is very gratifying. 

We regret our inability to give a list of our exhibitors who have 
received the grand medal and diploma of the exhibition, no completed 
list of awards having yet been made public, but will be, in due time, 
by the United States Centennial Commission. 

Of the educational exhibit, made under the direct superintendence 
of Dr. J. M. Gregory, Hon. S. M. Etter, and their able assistants, em- 
bracing, as it did, the entire educational system of the public and 
normal schools, seminaries and colleges, industrial university, charit- 
able and penal institutions of the state, we cannot speak too highly. 

Occupying two alcoves in the south gallery of the main building, 
and a large space in the mineral annex, there were few school exhibits 
which proved so attractive, and none were more deserving of notice. 

We are pleased to note that an award was given to this display. 

W r hat has been said of the educational collection applies with equal 
force to that made by the State Board of Agriculture, collected by the 
members of that Board, and under the special charge of H S. Emory 
and Jonathan Periam. No other state exhibit surpassed that of 
Illinois in quantity, classification and arrangement of cereals and 
completeness of details. An award was also made to this department. 

Of the number of buildings, their style and architecture and adap- 
tability to the purposes for which they were erected, it is unnecessary 
to speak in detail ; suffice it to say that no previous exhibition has 
ever equalled that of 1876, and it is not probable that any country will 
ever attempt anotherof so great a magnitude, hut efforts will probably 
hereafter be directed to the collection of a maximum quantity of the 
best of the world's goods in a minimum of space. 

There were over two hundred buildings for exhibition, state and 
other purposes, erected in Fairmount Park, anil, great as was the 
success of this international fair in size, number of buildings, variety 
and superiority of goods on exhibition, it was equally so in point of 
numbers of visitors and receipt of entrance 



23 

A comparison with the three principal ones which have preceded 
this of the American j3eople will be of particular interest. 

London exhibition of 1862 — Open 171 days. 

Total amount of receipts $1,977,285 60 

Total visitors 6,211,103 

paris exhibition, 1867 — Open, (Sundays included,) 117 days. 

Total amount of receipts $2,036,359 12 

Total visitors 6,805,969 

Maximum number admitted in one day, (Sundav, Oc- 
tober 27,) " 173,923 

Vienna exhibition, 1873 — Open, (Sundays included,) 186 days. 

Total amount received $999,351 30 

Total visitors 6,740,500 

Philadelphia exposition, 1876 — Open 159 days. 

Total amount received .• $4,261,352 45 

Total visitors 9,910,966 

Maximum number admitted in one day, Thursdav, Sep- 
tember 28 274,919 

The above statement of the Philadelphia exhibition is subject to 
revision, and will be increased. The figures prove the success of the 
American exhibition, not only in number of admissions but amount 
of receipts, and maximum number of visitors admitted in one day. 
Paris, situated in the center of a dense population, led the three 
European exhibitions, and, in number of admissions in one day, was 
so far in advance of the other two that we omit their figures. It will 
be noticed that the largest number of admissions to the Paris exhibi- 
tion was on Sundaj' - , while that of Philadelphia was on what was 
known as Pennsylyania day, Thursday, September 28. The latter 
was not open to the public on the Sabbath. 

The exhibition opened ©n May 10th, with great ceremonies, the 
main buildings having been completed in ample time for the reception 
of goods. There was no delay on the part of the commission, as there 
was on that of the exhibitors, many of whom were not in position 
before the last of the month. 

After a successful continuance of one hundred and fifty-nine days, 
without one single incident to mar the pleasure of the exhibitors or 
visitors, the great exhibition closed November 10th, with appropriate 
ceremonies, the President of the United States officiating as at the 
opening. 

On the close of the exhibition it remained for your Board to dispose 
of the property in their keeping. 

The state building was sold for a sum much larger in proportion to 
its cost than that of any other building on the ground. 

This was owing to the fact that it had been erected with a view to 
its practical use when no longer needed in Fairmount Park. 



All articles loaned to or in charge of'the board were carefully boxed 
and returned to the owners, the state board paving all expenses. 

Many valuable catalogues, publications, and pamphlets, relating to 
the exhibition, countries, or states, participating therein, having been 
collected, were forwarded to the principal libraries of the state ; a 
large package including the visitors' registers being forwarded to the 
Hon. Geo. H. Harlow, secretar} r of state, for the state library. 

In exchange for the various books collected, your board distributed 
several thousand volumes of the valuable reports of the State Board 
of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners, Chicago Board of Trade, 
Chicago Board of Public Works, and Chicago Pork Packers Associa- 
tion. All these works contained information relative to the trade of 
Chicago, and the railroad system of Illinois, which was eagerly sought 
for by the representatives of all the foreign countries. 

CONCLUSION. 

It is eminently proper before closing this report, to call attention 
to the fact, that the members of the state board of managers received 
no compensation for their services, as the act of the General Assembly 
prohibited such payment. This was unnecessary, the appropriation 
being too small to admit of it being done. 

It should, however, be borne in mind that the appropriation was 
made two winters before the opening of the exhibition, and before 
the duties of the state board had been properly defined by the na- 
tional commission, or their labors could be approximated. Now, that 
their work has been done, and the result of their labors seen and 
enjoyed by the thousands of visitors from this state, it is submitted 
that some acknowledgement be made for their loss of time, and as a 
slight recompense for the valuable services rendered. 

Of the duties of the secretary, it is sufficient to say that one full 
year of his time was devoted to the service of the state board of man- 
agers, and in the furtherance of "the interests of this state at the 
international exhibition," during the greater part of which time he 
was without a clerk to aid, called upon to fill an important trust, the 
secretary was not relieved from any of his responsibility or labor, as 
the work of his office increased in proportion to the increased help 
given him. To be able to keep up the work assigned the secretary, 
and not neglect other trusts, the time necessary for the protection of 
his private business, and for rest, was devoted to the service of this 
board — in this State and at Philadelphia — until the completion of 
all its duties, the settlement of all its liabilities, and the surrender of 
its trust to the source from which it emanated. No compensation has 
been paid for these services. 

Of the various persons in the employ of this board, it is a pleasing 
duty to report, that called upon often by thoughtless visitors to per- 
form unreasonable services, they conducted themselves in such a 
manner, as to win the respect and receive the thanks of all visitors to 
the state building. 

Of the superintendent and matron in charge of the building is this 
particularly true 

No compensation was paid the matron for the reason that the funds 



25 

were too small to permit of this being done, notwithstanding this 
board ordered the employment of this person. Yet this lady devoted 
all her time to the charge of the building and was unremitting in 
her attention to the visitors who were taken ill upon the premises. 
To her is this board indebted for much of the success which attended 
the administration of affairs at the state building, as are the one hun- 
dred or more persons who under her kind ministrations were probably 
saved from a long and painful, if not fatal illness. 

JOHN P. REYNOLDS, 
CARLILE MASON, 
A. C. SPAFFORD, 
F. L. MATTHEWS, 
F. COLTON, 

LAWRENCE WELDON. 
(Attest) J. C. SMITH, Secretary. 

At a regular meeting of the state board of managers held January 
2d, 1877, the following resolution was adopted and ordered to be made 
part of the above report : 

Resolved, That in view of the extraordinary and unexpected services 
required of the secretary, for the past two and one-half years, in con- 
nection with the duties devolved upon this board, we hereby respect- 
fully and earnestly suggest and recommend that the sum of three 
thousand dollars ($3,000) be appropriated by the General Assembly 
to Secretary Smith in compensation for such services. 

(Attest) J. C. SMITH, Secretary. 



26 



FINANCIAL STATEMENT. 
State Board of Managers, January 2nd, 1877. 



Clerical sen-ices, Superintendent a«d others, at State Building. 
Commissioners, expense of 



Rent of offices and other expenses 

Printing and stationery 

Telegrams 

Advance to Women's Centennial Association 

Freight and expressage 

History of Illinois 

State headquarters, Centennial grounds, Philadelphia, constructing, furnishing and 
other 



Total. 



\ . 740 25 
260 60 
499 05 
•117 25 
95 20 
400 00 

50 00 

4,987 42 






To appropriation 

•' rebate in freight, B. and O. R. R... 
' ' Women's Centennial Association. 

' ' Sale of State headquarters 

' ' sale of sundry furniture 



Total. 



810 000 00 

60 00 

400 00 

1,000 00 



111,506 57 



J. C. Smith. Secretary 



27 



CONTRIBUTORS. 



Dean Bros., Chicaeo. 

J. H. Whitlock, Chicago. 

J. Beidler & Bro., " 

Bigelow Bros., " 

Henry Barker & Co., Chicago. 

Lndington, Wells & Van Schaack, Chicago. 

S. W. Harvey, Chicago. 

Ford River Lumber Company, Chicago. 

S. R. Martin " 

Noble & Little, Chicago. 

J. A. B. Waldo, 

Charles Reitz & Bro., Chicago. 

Henry Curtis & Co., 

A. Weed & Co., 

F. A. White, 

McDonald & Roe, 

T. M. Avery & Son, 

John Sheriff & Son, 

H. T. Porter, 

Hempstead & Beebe, Chi 

Park & Sop'er, 

Hannah, Lay & Co., " 

Street & Chatfield, 

Gardner <fc Spray, " 

Bushnell, Walworth & Reed. Chicago. 

Loomis & Davis, " 

Loomis &_Dalton, " 

The Pestigo LumberCompany " 

N. Ludington & Co., " 

Chapin & Foss, " 

McArthur, Smith & Co., 

The B. L. Anderson Company, " 

C. C. Thompson & Co., 

Charnley Bros., " 

Kirby, Carpenter & Co., 

Calkins & Fisher, " 



Benton & Fuller. 



HARD WOOD DEALERS. 



Holmes & Co., Chicago. 

Holbrook & Co., " 

Hatch, Holbrook & Co., " 
B. G. Gill & Co. _ 
Oglesbee & Mattingly. 
M. & T. Lorden. 



Holden & Pendleton. 
C. M. White. 
H. N. Holden. 
Geo. E. White. 



28 



MILL WORK. 



Fullatn & Co., Chicago. 

John Wisdom, " 

Pond & Soper, " 

Hair & Ocliorn, " 

Felix Lang, 

Hall & Winch, 

Will & Roberts, 

Campbell Bros., " 

Goss & Phillips, 

Smith Bros. & Co., " 

W. E. Frost & Co., 

Chas. J. L. Mever, 

T. Wilee & Co.", 

Palmer, Fuller & Co., " 

Merrill & Raymond, " 

S. J. Russell, 

North Side Planing Mill Company, Chicago. 

Steinmet'z & Simmons, Chicago. 

Soper & Brainard, " 

Pearson & Payn, ' ; 

HARDWARE. 

Hibbard & Spencer, Chicago. 

Seeberger & Breakey, " 

E. Hunt Sons, " 

John V. Ayer & Son, 

S.D. Kimbark, 

Miller Bros. & Keep, " 

Wm. Blair & Co., 

Collins & Burgie, " 

Crane Bro.'s Manufacturing Company, Chicago. 

PAINTS, GLASS, STATIONERY, &C. 

Heath & Milligan, Chicago. 

E. W. Blatchford & Co., Chicago. 

A. M. King, Chicago. 

La Salle Glass Company, La Salle. 

Ottawa " " Ottawa. 

Sand Blast Co., Chicago. 

Rock River Paper Company, Chi' 

Arnold, Barrett & Kimball " 

J. M. W. Jones, 

J. V. Farwell & Co., 

Goodyear Rubber Company. " 

Charles Gossage & Co., " 

Keen, Cook & Co.. " 



29 



Clark, Friend, Fox & Co., Chicago. 

Oglesby, " 

J. M. Butler & Co., 

Cleveland Paper Company, " 

Knight & Leonard, " 

A. L. Sewell, 

Warner & Beers, " 

Williams, Donnelly & Co., /' 



NATIONAL AND STATE COLOES. 



George F. Foster, Son & Co., Chicago. 
Gilbert, Hubbard & Co., " 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



BY ANSON S. MILLER. 



Illinois, the first of the United States in agricultural productions, 
and the fourth in population and political power, has an area of 
55,405 square miles, resting on Lake Michigan east and the Mississippi 
west, and extending from the confluence of the Ohio with the latter 
on the south, to the line of the Missouri north, embracing a region 
unsurpassed in fertility of soil, healthiness of climate, mineral riches 
and commercial advantages combined. Evidently this young and 
rising state is great by natural position, which, with the stimulus 
given by the favored locality to the varied industry and enterprise 
of her citizens, sufficiently accounts for the unparalleled growth and 
prosperity of the state in the brief period of half a century. 

Through the lakes, canals and railways, Illinois is closely connected 
with the east and north, and by the Mississippi and its tributaries 
on her whole western and southern border, her relations are intimate 
with the west and south, so that the interests of a majority of the 
states invest many of the improvements of Illinois with a national 
character, and the state itself has become the " key-stone" of an en- 
larged arch of thirty-eight states, as Pennsylvania was of the original 
thirteen colonies. 

Already more miles of railway centre in the State of Illinois, than in 
any other political division on the globe ; add to these her own web-work 
of railways, amounting in 1874 to 6,759 339-1000 miles, now probably 
7000 miles, and she is in advance of any other state by many hundred 
miles. These railways, with her canals and many other internal im- 
provements, furnish a complete system for the highways of commerce, 
while her rivers abound with hydraulic facilities for manufactures. 
Her main canal connects the northern lakes with the Mississippi 
river, thus uniting peoples and cities from the mouth of the St. 
Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, by a grand chain of continental 
communication. 

Industrial pursuits in a country arc mainly determined by its 
physical condition. Illinois is a happy illustration as evinced by 
individuals and societies ; nearly or quite all of the one hundred and 
two counties of this state have well organized county agricultural 
societies and annual industrial fairs. 



32 

Our State society is headed by leading citizens of Illinois. Her 
extensive prairies of fertile and arable land, all cleared to hand, in- 
vited the farmers ot older states to bring their plows and open to the 
sun the rich mould of a thousand golden autumns, and to drive their 
flocks and herds of useful domestic animals to feast and fatten on the 
grassy plains. What in a few years has been the result ? 

Illinois has been peopled with the young and energetic farmers of 
our own country and Europe. They have purchased the new unex- 
hausted lands at low prices, and through industry and economy have 
made happy homes, and surrounded them with an abundance of the 
necessaries and luxuries of life, and have secured in different degrees 
competence, independence and affluence. Under these circumstances 
Illinois leads the Union as an agricultural state. 

In the census of 1870 she appears with 25,882,861 acres of land in 
farms, excelling New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other great states. 

The Illinois wheat crop is also reported in the same national stat- 
istics, 30,128,405 bushels, being more than that of any other state. 

And then her corn crop, her staple grain, stands at 129,921,395 
bushels, about sixty-one million bushels more than the highest of her 
sister states. With her vast fields for agriculture, came the necessity 
for labor saving machinery to aid in their cultivation, secure the crops 
and prepare them for market. 

This necessity stimulated invention, and Illinois has been well 
supplied with every variety of agricultural implements by the 
genius of her own citizens. 

The state has long furnished the Eastern markets with more fat 
cattle than any other western state. Stock raising in Illinois lias 
grown to enormous proportions. Years have passed in which this 
state has furnished New York city with more live stock than all the 
other states combined. During 1866 the total number of cattle re- 
ceived at New York was 298,882; of this number 165.287 were received 
from Illinois alone. The aggregate value of all this live stock 
was $33,223,723 12, and of the shipments from this State, was 
$18,373,302 62. 

This exhibit gives a just idea of the gigantic proportions of Illinois 
husbandry, which has greatly increased since 1866. The late Jacob 
Strawn, one of the greatest Illinois farmers of his day. turned oil' 
yearly, to the Eastern markets, thousands of fat cattle ami hogs, and 
had cultivated on his land, some seasons, twenty thousand & 
corn distributed among his numerous tenants. 

John T. Alexander, another of the distinguished farmers of this 
state, cultivated some 36,000 acres. A visitor to this mammoth farm 
gave the following description : "One corn-field was twelve miles long 
and from one-half to a mile wide, containing 5,500 acres. Standing 
on a corn crib the eye could see over live miles of corn, in opposite 
directions. During spring eighty-five plows were ran constantly to 
plow the field; fifteen planting machines put in the seed, and twenty 
cultivators dressed the rows. 

This field yielded 220,000 bushels. A meadow of 2,500 acres of tim- 
othy and blue grass yielded 3,000 tons of hay, fifteen machines were 
run in mowing it, and horse forks stacked it*. Timothy for seed, loo 
acres, cut with a header, yielded 1,500 bushels. There were 6,000 






33 

acres of prairie pasture, and 12 ,000 of timothy, blue grass and clover, 
growing about 4,000 head of cattle. An osage hedge enclosed 27,000 
acres, and several intersected the farm, making a total length of hedge 
equal to 130 miles. There were 80 miles of board fence on the farm." 

For years the state has surpassed all in the packing of beef and 
pork for home and foreign markets. 

Geological structure as well as surface soil has had its influence on 
the business and general progress of Illinois. Among the early objec- 
tions to settlement in the prairie state was the destitution of timber 
and fuel, and the preponderance of the open over the wooded lands. 

The objection was balanced by the advantages of land cleared already 
for use. Again, it has been found that by keeping out the autumnal 
fires young forests will spring up on the prairies, so that now there 
are many thousand acres of such in the state and are constantly in- 
creasing. 

But the fuel objection is fully answered by the existence of exten- 
sive and inexhaustible coal fields. Geological surveys of the most thor- 
ough and scientific character disclose the important fact that more than 
three fourths of the territory of Illinois is underlaid with coal, and 
that these fields or coal measures form an area of about ^44,000 square 
miles, an extent almost as large as the state of New York. This 
abundance of coal not only supplies the people with cheap fuel, but 
works wonders in advancing the commerce and manufactures of the 
state. 

Besides this profusion of coal, Illinois has the important metals of 
commerce, iron, copper, lead and other minerals, and unlimited sup- 
plies of lime and other fine quarries of stone; also, beds of sand, peat, 
gypsum, and saline springs, and, among all, the conveniences of a 
state enjoying all the blessings of temperate climate. 

Introductory to this volume of the State Centennial Board of Illi- 
nois, a brief review of the history of the state is appropriate. Space, 
however, will permit but one epitome. 

Illinois, and its chief interior river, derived their name from a 
powerful confederacy of Indian tribes that once occupied most of what 
is now the state and the surrounding region. Indeed, the territory of 
the nation, east of the Mississippi and north-west of the Ohio, now the 
seat of the states of Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, 
was formerly all included in the Illinois country. 

The Indian tribes constituting the Illinois confederacy, and known 
under the general appellation in the history of the west, were the 
Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Peorias, Tamaroas, Michiganias, and lastly the 
Wiscontins who came into the confederacy subsequently, having pre- 
viously for years held friendly relations with the Illini,"or Illinois, as 
the French called them. Considerable has been said and written 
concerning the etymology and meaning of the name Illinois. Father 
Hennepin, one of the early explorers of the west, called the Indians 
of this confederacy the Illini. Names in an unwritten language are 
liable to be misunderstood and misspelled, as they must depend 
wholly upon pronunciation for their orthography. If the word is to 
stand a designation of the tribes of this confederacy, Illinah instead 
of Illini is doubtless the better word, as it more nearly conforms to 
the guttural sounds common in the termination of Indian names, 
—3 



34 

and is more in accordance with the understanding of the French in 
their pronunciation of the word. The name Illinois is partly French 
and partly Indian, the latter part being the usual French affix ois. 
The name Illinois is derived from Lenno, "man." The Delaware In- 
dians called themselves Lenno Lenape, which in the Algonquin lan- 
guage means "real man," the word nape meaning male ; hence Lenno 
Lenape means "manly man,' 1 distinguishing from mean, trifling or dis- 
honorable man. The tribes of the Illinois gave the French explorers 
to understand that they were original, unmixed, real men for excel- 
lence, a proud designation to be maintained forever inviolable by 
their enlightened successors in this great and rising state, inheriting 
the name of the "Manly People," the "Real Men." We refer to the 
Indians of this confederacy as among the aboriginal inhabitants of 
this state. Yet they informed the early explorers of America that 
their fathers emigrated from other regions, and that other races, un- 
known to the Indians, were their predecessors. Monuments of a pre- 
historic race — mounds of different forms and dimensions, and relics 
of articles never made and used by the Indians — appear all over the 
continent, evincing a degree of science in the mound builders — we 
have no other name for them — sufficient for the completion of sym- 
metrical structures, and perfect geometrical figures. These unknown 
people of a remote antiquity occupied America ages before Columbus 
discovered the new world, and passed away from the circles of the 
living antecedents to the dawn of history. Tradition, even, is silent 
alike as to their origin, and the periods, respectively, of their existence 
and extinction. Many of these ancient works in Illinois and else- 
where are stupendous. 

The largest mound in the United States is situated on the Cahokia, 
which crosses the American bottom, opposite St. Louis. It is eight 
hundred 3 r ards in circumference at the base and contains on top three 
and one fourth acres. Other mounds of various magnitude abound on 
the Rock River at Rockford, some [having the shape of animals, ami 
so in other parts of the State. At Circleville, Ohio, were extraordi- 
nary works — two forts of vast dimensions near each other, the one an 
exact circle sixty rods in diameter, and the other a perfect square 
sixty-five rods on each side. The circular fortification was surrounded 
by two walls, with an intervening ditch twenty feet in depth. Inter- 
esting relics of domestic utility, ancient pottery, brick and other 
building material have been found in the ruins of a buried city at 
Maztalan, Wisconsin, and in numerous other localities. These rem- 
nants of departed grandeur appeared as ancient to the first European 
discoverers as they do to us, and must be regarded as proof of a former 
civilization far in advance of any of the Indian nations, and shrouded 
in oblivion beyond the reach of our chronology. 

Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette were both educated men, 
and men of superior natural 'endowments and mental cul- 
ture. Marquette was born at Saron, France, in in:;;, was edu- 
cated for the Roman Catholic priesthood, and at an early 
age entered the order of the Jesuits, and emigrated to Can- 
ada as a missionary in 1666. Joliet was born a few years later 
than 1637, at Quebec — was educated at the Jesuit college at Quebec. 
Both spoke and understood different languages, and have the honor 
of being the first European discoverers of the upper Mississippi, and 



35 

the earliest white explorers of the Illinois country. Discoveries in 
America had preceded theirs by nearly two centuries. Columbus had 
attained his world wide fame in 1492. The Cabots and Americus 
Vespucius had crowned the same century with their successful ex- 
ploits. DeLeon had discovered Florida in 1512. Verrazzoni, in the 
interest of France, had explored the coast of North Carolina, Delaware, 
New Jersey and Rhode Island, in 1524. Cartier had sailed up the St. 
Lawrence in 1534. DeSoto had entered the valley of the Lower 
Mississippi. Jamestown, Virginia, had been founded in 1607. 

Champlain had commenced the building of Quebec in 1608, Hudson 
had entered the splendid harbor of New York and sailed up the noble 
river that bears his name in 1609. The Mayflower had landed the 
pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, and other important deeds had dis- 
tinguished the important period of American discoveries before the 
upper Mississippi exploration. 

Under the auspices of Frontenac, Governor of Canada, and Talon, 
the Intendent, Joliet and Marquette entered on an exploring expe- 
dition to discover the great river of the west, its general course and 
its ocean termination. Preparations having been completed, the ex- 
plorers with five voyageurs left Mackinaw in two birch bark canoes on 
the 17th day of May, 1673, and reached the Wisconsin by way of Green- 
bay, Fox River, Lake Winnebago, and the portage, June 10th. Down 
the Wisconsin they floated their canoes by day, and encamped upon 
its banks by night. Suddenly on 17th June, just one month from 
their departure from Mackinaw, as they passed the Grand Meadows, 
now the site of Fort Crawford and the city of Prairie du Chien, the 
sublime scenery of the Mississippi burst upon the gladdened vision 
of the explorers, and as the grand river rolled down its mighty volume 
of flood at full banks, with its deep channel and broad bosom, they 
exclaimed with unspeakable enthusiasm in their own expressive 
language: Rio Grande ! Rio Grande! — giving the same idea as the 
Indian name Mississippi. Marquette says: "We entered the great 
river with a joy I cannot express. " Such was the rejoicing over a 
signal discovery on the 17th of June, 1673, a day and month again to 
be immortalized about a century after, by the first great battle of the 
American revolution on Bunker Hill. 

Pursuing their course down the Mississippi, the explorers, upon 
landing some days after, espied human foot-prints on the sand, and 
soon found an Indian village of the Illinois confederacy, whose in- 
habitants were the first persons whom they had seen since they had 
entered the Wisconsin. 

The Indians were delighted with their visitors, and entertained 
them with a bountiful feast at the lodge of the principal chief. 
Speeches were made and presents and compliments exchanged by the 
parties, and the Illinois heard with wonder and admiration the 
fluency and eloquence with which the French addressed them in their 
own Algonquin tongue. 

The Indians besought the travelers to stay with them, but Marquette 
explained to them the purpose of the exploration under the French 
government of Canada, and the necessity of proceeding promptly on 
their way, saying to the Indians: " My companion, Joliet, is an 
envoy of France to discover new lands and people," and I am am- 



36 

bassador from God to enlighten them with the Gospel. He promised 
the Indians that he would thereafter visit them and teach the prin- 
ciples and mysteries of his religion. In his journal. Marquette des- 
cribes the Illinois as remarkably handsome, well manne.ed and 
kindly. 

Father Charlvaixe, who visited Illinois in 1721, thus speaks of the 
Illinois Indians at the Kaskaskia and Cahokia mission: "The 
Indians at these places live much at their ease. A. Fleming, who was 
a domestic of the Jesuits, had taught them how to sow wheat, which 
succeeds well. They have swine and black cattle. The Illinois 
manure their grounds after their fashion and are very laborious. They 
likewise bring up poultry which they sell to the French. Their 
women are very neat-handed and industrious. They spin the wool of 
the buffalo into threads as fine as can be made from that of the English 
sheep. Nay, sometimes it might be taken for silk. Of this they 
manufacture fabrics which are dyed black, yellow and red, after which 
they are made into robes which they sew together with the sinews 
of the roebuck. They expose these to the sun for the space of three 
days, and when dry beat them and without difficulty draw out white 
threads of great fineness." 

This statement of the industry, skill and ingenuity of the Illinois 
in 1721 is happily applicable to their civilized successors of 1876. 

Uncontaminated by the vices of civilized life, these natives of the 
wilderness were full of natural dignity. The undisputed lords of 
those primeval solitudes, knowing no superiors, brave, generous, and 
of noble presence, well sustaining their honored tribal designation of 
Illinah, or Illinois the manly people — the real man. The chief and 
some hundreds of his braves attended the explorers back to the river, 
where the parties took an affectionate leave of each other. After 
passing down the river, through many exciting perils and adventures 
which cannot be detailed here, the expedition reached the mouth of 
the Arkansas. 

The main points of the exploration having been sufficiently 
ascertained and clangers increasing, the explorers resolved to return 
north and report their discoveries. Just two months from embarking 
from Mackinaw, and one month from entering the Wisconsin, they 
commenced their journey homeward, and passing up the Illinois river 
instead of the Wisconsin, they formed a further acquaintance with 
the Illinois tribes. 

Ascending their river, the explorers were pleased with the Indians 
and their country. "No where," says Marquette, "did we see such 
grounds, woods, meadows, buffalo, deer, elk, turkeys, swan, geese, 
ducks, and even otters and beavers, as along the Illinois river." 

Passing up the Chicago river and the lakes, the explorers arrived at 
Green Bay in September, having in about four months with rare dis- 
patch and success discovered the Mississippi, thedirection of its source 
and its probable outlet — the main objects of the expedition — in a 
tour of twenty-five hundred miles in open canoes. 

Marquette, in the spring of 167o, after wintering with his two voy- 
ageurs on the present site of the city of Chicago, had his canoe borne 
over the portage from the Chicago river to the Dcs Plaines, and de- 
scending through the latter into the Illinois, was cordially received at 



37 

the chief town of the confederacy, the largest in the west, on the north 
side of the river, the modern site of Utica, in the count}' of La Salle, 
extending a mile or more through a vale of surpassing beauty, and 
filling it from the Illinois river to the bordering bluffs. This was the 
capital of the tribes forming the Illinois confederacy, having, at some 
times, five hundred or more lodges, with a population variously esti- 
mated at from five to eight thousand, and probably more at the gen- 
eral meeting of the tribes there. 

When the Europeans first explored the country, the tribes of the 
Illinois confederacy probably aggregrated from 12,000 to 15,000 popu- 
lation, and perhaps more. It is said that some hundreds of Illinois 
chiefs, of different ranks, and a vast multitude of their aged men, war- 
riors, women and children crowded their capital town at the celebra- 
tion of the Easter festival by Marquette, and that all were profoundly 
moved by his religious ceremonies and eloquence. 

Then Marquette founded the first mission in the Illinois country, 
and christened it "The Mission of the Immaculate Conception,'' and 
the place Kaskaskia, probably after the tribe of Kaskaskians, who 
first entertained the explorers two years before, on their voyage of 
discovery down the Mississippi. 

The name Kaskaskia, as is well known, was afterwards given to 
another locality farther south, the first permanent lodgment of civ- 
ilization in the valley of the Mississippi, and the first capital, both of 
the territory and state of Illinois. There, at the first locality, he erected 
the christian cross, built an altar, performed mass, and celebrated the 
festival of Easter to the great admiration and wonder of the natives ; 
but his failing health soon after caused him to leave this mission for 
his home in Mackinaw, and, taking leave of the Indians, he ascended 
the Illinois river with his voyageurs and reached Lake Michigan as 
soon as possible, and passing up the east side, he became so exhausted 
that he reposed in the bottom of his canoe. 

Coming to the mouth of a little stream he requested his attendants 
to land, and in doing so they bore him to a pleasant spot. Here he 
observed the rites of his church, preparatory to the close of life, and 
quietly expired, and was buried. His remains were afterwards 
removed by a party of Ottawa Indians, his former converts, in a pro- 
cession of canoes up the lake to St. Ignace, at Mackinaw, and buried 
beneath the floor of the chapel of the mission. 

Joliet, after the exploration of the Mississippi, resumed his lucrative 
business of the fur trade, in Canada, the next year, and died in the 
early part of the succeeding century. What had been auspiciously 
begun by the public benefactors, Joliet and Marquette, was pursued 
with exalted enthusiasm and energy by that extraordinary explorer, 
the gifted and lion-hearted chevalier, Robert De La Salle. The first 
discovery gave an impulse which was felt throughout Europe, and 
monarchs, on foreign thrones, claimed unbounded regions in the New 
World, and battled for distant dominions. 

La Salle emigrated from France to Canada about 1670. He was 
..from a wealthy family, early exhibited powerful talent and was edu- 
cated among the Jesuits. After his arrival in Canada he made the 
acquaintance of the governor and the leading public men, civil and 
ecclesiastical. Like most of the explorers of that age. he was intent 



upon the discovery of a westward passage to the commerce of Asia ; 
this he imagined could be found through the outlet of the Mississippi, 
affording a short cut to China and other oriental regions. La Salle 
was also desirous to secure the North- American continent to the crown 
of France, and presented to Frontenae, the governor-general of Canada, 
the importance of connecting it with the Gjilf of Mexico, by a chain 
of forts along the navigable lakes and rivers for that purpose. 

The governor entered strongly into his views, and proposed to 
rebuild, with improved fortifications, Fort Frontenae, now the site of 
Kingston, Canada. In 1674, La Salle returned to France, and through 
the minister laid his plans before the monarch. These w r ere highly 
approved, and La Salle was made a chevalier and invested with 
privileges and authority in Canada. On his return to America, he 
labored diligently in exploring the lakes and rivers of the north-west, 
and in forming an acquaintance with the different Indian tribes and 
their languages. He was cordially received by the Indians of the 
Illinois confederacy and visited their chief town, the site of Utica 
before mentioned. In 1680, he built Fort Crevecoeur, near 
the foot of Peoria Lake. Owing to apprehensions of a hos- 
tile invasion by the Six Nations (the Iroquois confederacy 
of New York) into the country of Illinois, and wishing to 
protect the latter who were friendly to the French, La Salle ordered 
Henry de Fonte, his bravest and most faithful and efficient officer, to 
fortify the lofty bluff on the south bank of the river, between the 
present city of Ottawa and the mouth of the big Vermilion. Fonte 
commenced the w r ork in 1680 promptly, as ordered by La Salle, hot 
the sudden invasion of the Iroquois prevented the completion of the 
fortress. The invasion of these w T arlike Indians from abroad was 
terrific. They were fully prepared for bloodshed and conflagration, 
and fell stealthily upon the Illinois with the most barbarous ferocity, 
desolating the Illinois capital and burning and torturing its inhabit- 
ants. 

The invadsrs soon returned east after being defeated in battle by 
the lllinoiscn the Iroquois river, in the county which bears the name 
of the defeated. Subsequently the Illinois rebuilt their desolated 
town, and Fonte completed his fortifications in 1682. It was a little 
Gibraltar in its way, and was originally called Rock Fort, the site now 
known as Starved Rock. Some authors, and Dr. Sparks the historian 
among them, seem to confound "Starved Rock" with "Buffalo Rock," 
both on the Illinois river, in the county of La Salle. In 1857, Dr. 
Sparks, at Cambridge, Mass., enquired oi* the writer respecting these 
places, and the true locality of La Salle's Fort St. Louis. These rocky 
bluffs tower up on either side of the river. "Starved Rock" is a lofty 
cliff, amass of rock rising some 150 feet from the water, accessible 
only at one point and that difficult; three of the sides being pre- 
cipitous and the diameter of surface 100 feet, and is situated on the 
southern bank of the Illinois river, about one mile above the ancient 
site of the great town of the Illinois, now Utica. on the opposite bank. 
"Buffalo Rock" is a promontory on the northern side of the river, six 
miles below Ottawa. It rises nearly sixty feet, almost perpendicular 
on three sides, and contains on its surface some hundreds of acres of 
timber and prairie, called Buffalo Rock, because the Indians rushed 
buffalo over it to capture them. La Salle named Starved Rock 



39 

fortress Fort St. Louis, in honor of his king. The same year 1682, La 
Salle and his companions reached the Mississippi, and on the 6th of 
April looked forth with joy and wonder upon the great Gulf of Mexico. 
Conjectures as to the outlet of the Mississippi were now at an end, 
and the indomitable La Salle, trampling over obstacles insurmount- 
able to most men, even the heroic, had made his fame and the great 
river inseparable. Four days after the discovery of the gulf he 
ascended the river to its banks and there, in the midst of his compan- 
ions, reared a column, on which he fixed the following inscription : 

" Louis le Grande Roi de France, et de Navarre. Regne: Le Neuvieme 
April, 1682." 

La Salle, in his journal, translated from the original in the French 
archives, by Dr. Sparks, says : On the 8th of April, 1682, we reascendecl 
the river, a little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place, 
beyond the reach of inundations. The elevation of the north pole was 
here about twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a 
cross, and to the said column we affixed the arms of France, with this 
inscription: " Louis Le Grand, Roi.," &c, and then proclaimed, with 
great dignity and impressive voice, and ceremony, "In the name of 
the most high, mighty, invincible and victorious Prince Louis the 
Great, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, fourteenth 
of that name, I, this 9th day of April, 1682, in virtue of the com- 
mission of his majesty, which I hold in my hand, and which may be 
seen by all whom it may concern, have taken, and now do take, in 
the name of his majesty, and of his successors to the crown, posses- 
sion of this country of Louisiana, the sea, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent 
straits, and all the nations, people, provinces, cities, towns, villages, 
mines, minerals, fisheries, streams and rivers comprised within the 
limits of the said Louisiana." 

This was followed by the discharge ot fire arms and the shouts of 
Vive le Roi,vive le Roi, and thus the great valley of the Mississippi and 
its tributaries, with twenty thousand miles of navigable waters, were 
added to the dominion of France. Without following La Salle further 
in his high career, which entitles him to lasting renown, space only 
permits the mention of his death, by assassination on a branch of the 
Brazos river in Texas. From the time of La Salle's proclamation 
near the mouth of the Mississippi, and perhaps from his founding the 
rocky citadel of Fort St. Louis, the French may be said to have 
claimed the country of the Mississippi. The Spanish explorers had 
preceded the French in the southern country, and had made perma- 
nent possession at St. Augustine and Pensacola, but had extended 
Spanish authority little if any beyond these limits. The Illinois 
country was claimed successively by the Spanish, French, British, and 
Americans, though the Spanish never established local government in 
Illinois as did the other powers. 

French settlements continned to be made. Father Gravier founded 
Kaskaskia about 1690, and D. Iberville founded a colony at Mobile, and 
Cadellac at Detroit about ten years after, and New Orleans was founded 
in 1718. In the war then existing between France and Spain their 
respective colonies in America were involved in hostilities. The 
French under Bienville made a descent on Pensacola and took it. after- 
wards blew up the fort, burned the town, ami returned to Mobile, 



40 

The Spaniards planned an expedition and fitted it out at Santa Fe for 
the destruction of the French settlement* in Illinois. Detachments 
of Spanish cavalry were to cross the great American desert for this 
purpose, and the places destroyed were to he recolonized wi th a Span- 
ish population from Mexico. These schemes were defeated by the 
French, who in anticipation of further hostilities built Fort Chartres 
in 1720. on the Mississippi, twenty-two miles northwest of Kaskaskia, 
the strongest fortress on the Mississippi, and destined to occupy a con- 
spicuous place in the subsequent history of Illinois. 

Boisbriant, under the auspices of the Western company, then acting 
under the authority of France, superintended the erection of this 
formidable fort. In 1721, Louisiana was divided into seven districts. 
or cantons, viz: New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile. Alabama. Natchez. 
Natchitochis and Illinois, which was appropriately called the granary 
of Louisiana, and Boisbriant was made the local governor of Illinois, 
with headquarters at Fort Chartres. From this period the famous 
fortress continued the seat of government, through French and Jh it Lsh 
rule, and after Clark's conquest. In 1732, the Illinois colonists were 
greatly distressed by the death of their second local governor, the 
young and dauntless D. Artagnette, and his brave companions. Yin- 
cennes and Senat, in the war with the Chickasaw Indians, dp to 
1711, the French settlements in the valley of the Mississippi had been 
separately under the government of Canada, but in that year they 
were united under the one province of Louisiana, Dinou 'd Artagnette 
becoming governor-general, with the capital at Mobile. 

From the first French explorations in the country of the Missis- 
sippi to early in 1763, when, by the treaty of Paris. France made a 
general surrender of her possessions east of the Mississippi, except 
New Orleans, to Great Britain, the Illinois country was a French 
colony, and it is a remarkable historical fact that the people, under 
the moral teachings and guidance of their religious leaders, were so 
imbued with the christian virtues, and awed to social duties, t hat their 
communities existed harmoniously nearly a century, without a court 
of law to settle their difficulties among themselves, and without wars 
with their Indian neighbors, and even without a local govornment 
till 1721. The Indians of the Illinois confederacy were uniformly 
friendly to the French. In King William's war with France, from 
1689 to 1697, Queen Anne's war from 1701 to 1713, King George's war 
from 1744 to 1748, and the French and Indian war from 17">l to 1763, 
the Illinois warmly expoused the cause of France. They loved the 
French character, its vivacity, gayety, grace, and pleasant adaptation, 
and regarded the French as a superior people, and cordially mingled 
and married with them. Never were happier communities than those 
of the French in the early times of Illinois. Long after the treaty 
of Paris, the French flag still continued to wave over Fort Chartres, 
the headquarters of the commandant of Illinois, then St. Anjo, a 
French gentleman of superior refinement and influence, and greatly 
beloved by the French people of Illinois. 

After over ten years the first British Governor, Captain Sterling, of 
the 42d Royal Highlanders, arrived in Illinois, and was courteously 
received at Fort Chartres by St. Anjo, the retiring French governor, 
and the French flag which had so long waved over the fort, after the 
general surrender of the country, was succeeded by the ensign of Great 






41 

Britain in October, 1765. In 1766, by an act of the British parliament, 
.known as the Quebec bill, the Illinois country was annexed to Canada 
for governmental purposes, and so continued until the conquest of 
Col. George Rogers Clark, in 1778, by which it became the county of 
Illinois, in the state of Virginia. 

The great conspiracy of Pontiac, the most powerful of all the In- 
dian chieftains, who, after the treaty of Paris, undertook to unite the 
Indian tribes of the west and the south against the progress of British 
power, must be passed over in this limited introduction. Pontiac's 
war caused a terrific agitation throughout the northwest. The effort 
against the march of civilization failed,- as all such must. The great 
Ottawa chief finally promised peace to the British at the treaty of 
Oswego, New York, in 1766, and then returned to the west, and made 
his home in the solitude of the forest, hunting the wild game for the 
subsistance of his family. Early in the year 1769, clad in the splendid 
uniform of a general, presented him by Montcalm, carefully preserved, 
he visited his old friend St. An jo, then in command of the Spanish 
garrison at St. Louis. Against the counsel of his friends he attended 
a meeting of the Indians on the opposite side of the river at Cahokia, 
and while there he was assassinated by an Illinois Indian of the Kas- 
kaskia tribe, who is supposed to have been bribed with whisky by 
an English trader to execute the murderous deed. Thus perished the 
greatest warrior of his race, often called the Napoleon of the Ameri- 
can Indians, dying the year in which Napoleon the great was born. 
St. Anjo procured the body of the fallen hero and buried it with the 
honors of war near the fort under his command at St. Louis, that great 
city being now the renowned chieftain's only monument. His assassin- 
ation aroused the Indian tribes of the northwest,— the Ottawas, the 
Sacs, Foxes, Pottowatamies, and other tribes that had been under his 
supreme control, and they rushed with savage vengeance upon the 
Illinois, who were nearly exterminated by the avengers of Pontiac's 
murder. Amid this bloody drama many of the Illinois took refuge 
in the impregnable fortress, Fort St. Louis, which was immediately 
besieged, by their enemies. Here, upon this rocky eminence, the occu- 
pants were soon reduced to starvation. Their efforts to obtain water 
from the river were defeated by the besiegers, who, floating in 
canoes under the cliff, prevented the besieged from drawing up 
water to slake their thirst. Destitute alike of food and drink, and 
entirely famished, many laid themselves down on the rock to die with 
stoical fortitude and resignation. It is said that a few glided noise- 
lessly by night through the gate of the fort, and seizing canoes which 
in the day they had seen lying in the river below, made good their 
escape to St. Louis. Years after, it is said, the rocky summit was still 
covered with the bleaching bones of the starved; hence the name 
"Starved Rock." 

The old Kaskaskia tribe of the Illinois, formerly numerous, resided 
between the town of Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres, and in 1800 num- 
bered only about one hundred and fifty warriors, indicating a popula- 
tion of seven or eight hundred. Old Du Quoin, their head chief, was 
a man of good natural ability and always a friend to the white 
settlers. From 1770 the Illinois tribes as a confederacy seem almost 
to have disappeared from history. At the breaking out of the revolu- 
tion they were under the protection and control of the British gov- 



42 

eminent, to which they yielded a reluctant submission after th< 
eral surrender by France. It must be remembered that anciently both 
sides of the Mississippi were called Illinois, and after the secret trans- 
fer of the territory west of the Mississippi, including the island and 
town of New Orleans east, from France to Spain in 17<>2. that was 
called the "Spanish country." The American geography, written by 
the Rev. Doctor Jedediah Morse, father of the telegraph inventor, and 
published in 1789, contained excellent maps of this country one hun- 
dred years ago. On these maps all the territory west of the Missis- 
sippi and south of the Missouri rivers is marked "Spanish Dominions. *' 
and East and West Florida "Spanish Provinces.'' Early after the 
declaration of American Independence Lord Dunmore, the last of the 
British Governors of Virginia, fled the country, and the people of that 
state made Patrick Henry their chief magistrate. In 1778, Col. George 
Rogers Clark, a native of Virginia, who had proved himself a brave 
and efficient military leader in conflicts with the Indians in Kentucky, 
Ohio, and elsewhere, proposed to Gov. Henry the raising of an expe- 
dition to capture Kaskaskia, Fort Chartres, Vincennes, and other Brit- 
ish posts in the Illinois country. The Governor favored the enterprise, 
and with the advice of his friends and confidential counsellors, Thomas 
Jefferson, George Mason, and George Wythie, aided and directed the 
expedition, which, through the transcendent skill and heroism of Col. 
Clark, was crowned with complete success. The Virginia Legislature 
voted their thanks to Col. Clark, his officers and men, for their brilliant 
achievements and made the Illinois country a county of Virginia, 
making Col. John Todd, Jr., its Lieutenant Colonel and civil com- 
mandant. The act of the House of Burgesses of the Commonwealth 
of Virginia, October, 1778, established the county of Illinois in tin- 
following words: "All the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia 
who are already settled, or shall hereafter settle, on the western side of 
the Ohio shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called 
Illinois county." This act bears the seal of the commonwealth. This 
proclamation to the inhabitants is dated at Kaskaskia, June 15, 1 7 7 ' » . 
Thus Patrick Henry became the first American Governor of Illi- 
nois. 

After the close of the revolutionary war, Virginia in 1784 ceded to 
the United States all of her claims to the country northwest of the 
Ohio river, her claim to the Illinois country being through a grant 
from James L, of Great Britain. 

New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and other states having 
supposed claims to western lands also ceded them, and Congress in 
1778, by an ordinance of that year, organized the territory so ceded 
into the Northwestern Territory, and made General Arthur St. Clair 
its governor, capital at Marietta, afterwards at Chillicothe, and in 
1795 at Cincinnati. From 1784, when Virginia ceded the Illinois 
country — the Northwestern Territory — to the United States, to 1790, 
when Governor St. Clair organized the first county in Illinois (St. 
Clair county '), there was no executive legislature and judicial author- 
ity in the country. It is said that good feeling, harmony, and fidelity 
to engagements prevailed, and that for these >ix years the people 
were a law unto themselves. 

Previous to the division of the Northwest Territory, and the organ- 
ization of Indiana Territory in 1800, there had been but one term of 



43 

court having criminal jurisdiction in the three western counties of 
the Northwest Territory, Knox county, Indiana, St. Clair and Ran- 
dolph counties, Illinois. 

In 1800, the Northwest Territory was divided, and the western part 
formed into the territory of Indiana. This embraced what is now 
Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 

General William Henry Harrison was made governor of Indiana, 
with the capital at Vincennes. In 1809, Indiana Territory was di- 
vided, and the western part thereof, including the area of the present 
states of Illinois and Wisconsin, was formed into the territory of Illi- 
nois, with Ninian Edwards, governor, and Nathaniel Pope, secretary 
of the territory, and acting governor pro tern., Kaskaskia being the 
seat of government. 

The population of the territory at the time was estimated at 9,000. 
The census of 1810 states it at 12,282. More than nine-tenths of the 
territory was still a wilderness, over which the Indians and wild 
beasts roamed at pleasure. Preceding the war of 1812 there were 
many Indian troubles in the Illinois Territory, as in other parts of the 
northwest, and Governor Edwards was very active and efficient in 
protecting the territory from Indian encroachments. Tecumseh, the 
great Shawnee chief, like Pontiac, whom he much resembled in spirit 
and ability, united many of the western and southern tribes against 
the Americans. He was stimulated to this by the British in Canada, 
who gave him a general commission in the war, and made him many 
presents. His influence over the Indians in the west constantly 
aroused them to savage warfare. Most of these were in alliance with 
the British through the war of 1812, in which Tecumseh was slain. 

On the 15th of August, 1812, occurred a most horrible Indian mas- 
sacre at Chicago, which space will not permit to be detailed here. 
Indian hostilities ceasing on the close of the war, immigration into 
Illinois greatly increased. Congress, in 1813, granted the right of 
preemption to settlers on the public lands. This was a most im- 
portant provision, and one which wonderfully stimulated emigration 
and settlements. In 1818, the territorial legislature at Kaskaskia, in 
January of that year, petitioned Congress for the admission of Illinois 
as a state in the Union, with a population of 40,000. Nathaniel Pope, 
then territorial delegate, presented the petition promptly. The peti- 
tion was referred to thfi proper committee who instructed the delegate 
to report a bill in pursuance of the petition. (The Hon. Nathaniel 
Pope was appointed United States judge for the district of Illinois, in 
1818, an office which he filled with great ability to the close of his 
life, in 1850.) The bill was reported with certain amendments pro- 
posed by Judge Pope. The principal of those amendments were : 
first, to extend the northern boundary of the new state to the parallel 
of 42° 30' north latitude — this would give a good harbor on Lake 
Michigan — and secondly, to appl} 7 the three per cent, fund, arising from 
the sales of the public lands, to the encouragement of learning, in- 
stead of the making of roads, as had been the case on the admission 
of Ohio and Indiana. The rich results of liberal educational provisions 
in this act of Congress, may be seen in the flourishing free schools of 
Illinois, and her seminaries, colleges, and universities. Besides the 
three per cent, on the sales of the public lands, and the 16th section 



44 

in every township, Congress, in a general grant to the states, gave 
Illinois 480,000 acres of land, with which the Illinois industrial uni- 
versity has been established. All these important changes were pro 
posed and carried through both houses of Congress, by Judge Pope'a 
influence, and he deserves the lasting gratitude of the state for wise 
efforts in measures which have so richly contributed to its prosperity. 
This bill became a law, as amended in April 1818, and in pursuance 
of this enabling act, a convention was called to draft a state constitu- 
tion at Kaskaskia, in the following July. In August thereafter the 
constitution was completed and signed by the delegates of the fifteen 
counties then organized — here given in the order of time of their 
formation — , viz. : St. Clair, Randolph, Madison, Gallatin, Johnsou, 
Edwards, White, Monroe, Pope, Jackson, Crawford, Bond. Union, 
Washington, and Franklin. Jesse B. Thomas was the president of 
the convention, and William C. Greenup, secretary. 

The first election under the constitution was held on the third 
Thursday in September of that year, and the following officers were 
elected: Shadrach Bond, governor; Pierre Menard, lieutenant-gov- 
ernor; John McLean, representative in congress. On October 5th the 
legislature met and elected the following officers : Ninian Edwards, 
who had been governor of Illinois during the whole territorial term 
of nine years, and Jesse B. Thomas, who had been president of the 
constitutional convention, were chosen United States senators : Joseph 
Philips, chief justice ; and Thomas C. Brown, John Reynolds, and 
William P. Foster, associate justices of the supreme court; Elijah ('. 
Berry, auditor of public accounts; John Thomas, state treasurer] 
Daniel P, Cook, attorney-general ; and Messrs. Blackwell and Berry; 
state printers; Elias Kent Kane, was appointed secretary of state. 
With these its first officers, the state of Illinois went into operation] 
after its admission into the Union, December 3d, 1818. After the 
election of these officers, the legislature adjourned to the first Monday 
of January, 1819, omitting all other business, as the state had not 
then been admitted into the Union. 

Pursuant to adjournment, the legislature assembled at Kaskaskia 
the first Monday of January, and Governor Bond delivered his first 
message. Among other things, even at that early day. the Governor 
recommended that steps be taken for the construction of the Illinois 
and Michigan canal, for aid in which a subsequent legislature memori- 
alized congress for a grant of land. Through the efforts of Daniel P. 
Cook, the able and distinguished representative in congress from this 
state, the land grant was obtained at the session of 1826 and 1827, giv- 
ing Illinois alternate sections of land live miles in width each side of 
the proposed canal through the whole length thereof, amounting between 
200,000 and 300,000 acres. The county embracing Chicago appropri- 
ately bears the honored name of Cook, in memory of a devoted and 
talented public servant. 

The seat of government for Illinois was continued at Kaskaskia till 
1820. Previous to that time congress, at the request of the Illinois 
legislature, had donated land for a new seat of government on condi- 
tion that it should be used as such for twenty years. 

A tract was selected in the county of Fayette, and named Vandalia. 
There a plain state house was erected, and the legislature held the 



45 

session of 1820 and 1821 there. Many matters important in a full his- 
tory of the state must be omitted here for want of space, such as the 
Black Hawk war of 1832; the Illinois banks established in 181G, 1819, 
1820, 1821, and 1835 ; also the struggle on the question of slavery at the 
election of 1822, in which the friends of freedom were successful in the 
election of Edward Coles for governor. 

Fifty years ago General La Fayette arrived in the United States as 
the "nation's guest," to be present at the half-century celebrations of 
the opening of the revolutionary war preceding the Declaration of In- 
dependence, and progress and prosperity of American liberty. Upon 
the arrival of the renowned personage in the city of New York the 
general assembly of Illinois invited him to visit our ancient town of 
Kaskaskia, the state capital, armory, and other things. In his reply 
to the invitation, La Fayette said: "It has ever been my eager de- 
sire, and it is now my earnest intention, to visit the western states, and 
particularly the state of Illinois. The feelings which your distant 
welcome could not fail to excite have increased that patriotic eager- 
ness to admire on that blessed spot the rapid and happy results of re- 
publican institutions, public and domestic virtues. I shall, after the 
celebration of the 22d of February anniversary day, leave this place 
for a journey to the southern, and from New Orleans to the western 
states, so as to return to Boston, to be present June 17, when the cor- < 
ner stone of the Bunker Hill monument is to be laid, a ceremony sacred' 
to the whole union, and in which I have been engaged to act a peculiar 
and honorable part." Remaining in the city of New York till after 
the memorable celebration of the birth day anniversary of Washing- 
ton, his illustrious chief, La Fayette proceeded on his visit to the south 
and west, the cities of which gave him a splendid reception. 

Ascending the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Louis, he at 
length reached Kaskaskia, and was there received in the presence of a 
multitude of people by Governor Coles, in an eloquent speech of wel- 
come, to which La Fayette feelingly and appropriately responded. A 
sumptuous dinner was prepared by the patriotic ladies of Kaskaskia, 
and the dining-hall was ornamented in the most elegant manner. 

After dinner, toasts were drank, the honored hero led off with the 
following : "Kaskaskia and Illinois — May their joint prosperity more 
and more evince the blessings of congenial industry and freedom." 

Under the ordinance of 1787, slavery and involuntary servitude 
were prohibited in the northwestern territories, but some thought a 
state might annul this prohibition. Slaves were held by the French 
in Illinois under an edict of Louis XIIL, re-enacted by Louis XV., 
1724, regulating police affairs in the province of Louisiana and else- 
where. From 1800 to 1820, most of the emigration was from the 
slave states. In many cases the emigrants brought their slaves with 
them, and had them indendured as servants, in accordance with statutes 
for avoiding the prohibition of slavery. Laws providing for the dis- 
cipline of such servants, and for the regulation of colored people, were 
enacted and known as the " Black Laws," all of which have now been 
swept from the statutes of Illinois as unworthy of the state and age. 
At a special session of the Legislature, 1835, the Governor of Illinois 
was authorized to negotiate a loan of half a million of dollars with 
which to make commencement on the Illinois and Michigan Canal. 



46 

The loan was negotiated and the canal commissioners appointed, and 
the work begun in June, 1836. Immigration for a few years past had 
been greatly increased, and speculation was the order of the day. All 
saw that Illinois, with her great extent of territory and superior ad- 
vantages of soil and climate, must become a great state. Canals, rail- 
roads, improvements of harbors and rivers, the location of towns and 
business centers, were general topics for discussion. 

When the Legislature mot at Vandalia, in the session of 1836 and 
'37, an internal improvement convention assembled the same time at 
the seat of government. Amidst the excitement the members of the 
Legislature felt themselves instructed by the voice of r,he people to 
vote for a system of extensive internal improvements — such a system 
was passed by the Legislature in the course of the session — providing 
for railroads' from Galena to the mouth of the < thin; from Alton to 
Shawneetown ; from Alton to Mount Carmel ; from Alton to the east- 
ern boundary of the state, in the direction of Terre Haute. Alton 
was to be a great railway center, the terminus of three of these roads. 
Certain interested capitalists and politicians in and around Alton 
labored zealously to impress upon the citizens of the state the vital 
importance of making Alton the rival of St. Louis, a scheme im- 
practicable. This they called "State Policy." There was also railroads 
provided from Quincy, on the Mississippi, through Springtield to the 
Wabash; from Bloomington to Pekin, and from Peoria to Warsaw and 
others, including in the whole about thirteen hundred miles of 
railway. 

The legislature also provided for improving the navigation of the 
Kaskaskia, Illinois, Great and Little Wabash, and Pock river and 
others. Moreover, $200,000 were to be distributed among those coun- 
ties in which there were to be no roads or improvements. The legis- 
lature voted $8,000,000 for this system, to be raised by a loan. A fur- 
ther loan of $4,000,000 was authorized for the purpose of constructing 
the canal from Chicago to Peru. At this same session Springtield was 
made the future seat of government, and measures taken tor the erec- 
tion of a state house there. 

A board of fund commissioners, to negotiate the loan for railroads 
and other purposes, was appointed. In the spring of 1837 the hanks 
of Illinois, and throughout the United States, suspended specie pay- 
ments. The fund commissioners, by using from the principal sums 
borrowed, were able to pay interest on the State debt up to the first 
meetiag of the Legislature at the Springfield session of 1840 and 1841. 
Owing to these premature and extraordinary improvements, as pro- 
jected, the State subsequently sank under a crushing debt of over 
$14,000,000, on which she was unable to pay even the interest. Her 
ordinary expenses for government exceeded" her annual revenues ; her 
bonds fell to fourteen cents on the dollar: her credit was gone, and 
the State debt became a terror at home and a reproach abroad. The 
public works starting under the delirium of fictitious values, and the 
rage for speculation, and sudden wealth and splendor, ceased for want 
of funds, and in 1840 our population of 47d.hs; > > owed a debt of 114,- 
237,348. The banks of the State, in which she was a heavy stock- 
holder and loser, had failed. The people were left destitute of a home 
currency or means of foreign exchange. The creditors of Illinois — 
bondholders — among the wealthiest capitalists of London, Amsterdam 



47 

and New York, manifested a generous forbearance toward the State in 
her extreme embarrassment, and offered to complete the Illinois and 
Michigan canal, on which $5,000,000 had been expended, and to re- 
ceive its revenues and lands in payment of their demands till satisfied ; 
provided, the people, by legislative action, would give reliable assur- 
ance of their determination to raise a portion of the annual interest 
by taxation, to be paid in gold. Various were the views of the best 
citizens as to the course to be pursued. Many were for delay and 
compromise, declaring that the bond-holders ought to reduce their de- 
mands, as they had purchased the State bonds at a discount ; others 
were for declaring the State hopelessly insolvent, and repudiating her 
indebtedness. But the time at length came for a decisive course, and 
the General Assembly of 1844 and 1845 was destined to occupy the 
turning point in our financial history. Governor Ford, with great 
ability and true devotion to the best interests of the State, urged the 
acceptance of the bond-holders' proposition for a permanent arrange- 
ment of the State debt. Upon the meeting of the General Assembly, 
prominent citizens from every part of the State gathered at the capi- 
tal, solicitous that the integrity and honor of the State should he 
maintained, and it was soon seen that the acceptance of the bond- 
holders' offer was tbe prevailing sentiment; delay and repudiation 
were evidently doomed. 

In the course of the session, the Hon. John Davis, ex-Governor of 
Massachusetts, and David Leavitt, Esq., president of the American 
Exchange Bank, of New York, the former as agent of the firm, and the 
latter of the home creditors, arrived at Springfield, and were cordially 
received by the governor, members of the legislature, and prominent 
citizens attending at the capital. Satisfactory provision for the pay- 
ment of the state debt was made by legal enactment, approved March 
1, 1845. And from this point, the just arrangement of her indebted- 
ness, the state arose hopefully from her. temporary depression. Her 
credit was restored, public confidence inspired, and vigorous health 
and action succeeded suspended animation. Wealth and population 
from abroad flowed into the state copiously as when she was free from 
debt, and industry and enterprise entered upon the development of 
her exhaustless resources. The canal opened for use in 1848 yielded 
cheering revenues. The canal lands were sold, and the state debt dis- 
appeared almost unnoticed. The canal and its appurtenances were then 
restored to the state. The growth and progress of Illinois have been 
unsurpassed. Her population has more than doubled, has trebled, in 
single decades. And she now stands conspicuous in the first rank of 
states in all those improvements, institutions, and influences which 
characterize a prosperous and powerful commonwealth. Looking 
back to the early struggles of the state, when her whole people scarcely 
exceeded the population of her present great commercial metropolis, 
and when Chicago, in 1834, was a small village exhibiting a poll list 
of but one hundred and eleven votes, and a tax of only $48 90 for that 
year, when the village trustees resolved to borrow $60 00 for the open- 
ing and improving of its streets, we. need not wonder that the state 
was paralyzed by what would now appear a light indebtedness. That 
imperial city, now risen gloriously from the ashes of the most wide- 
wasting and appalling of conflagrations, having made her superb re- 
building more wonderful even than her sudden and awful destruction, 



48 

can better bear a debt of hundreds of millions than the state could ten, 
thirty years ago. Beholding the monuments of excellence and ad- 
vancement everywhere throughout the state, and reflecting on their 
origin, we recall with pride and admiration the integrity and honor 
which distinguished that memorable era in her annals, the year 1845, 
the turning point in her career of greatness. It is indeed a proud 
period in the history of our young state when her people, with great 
unanimity, taxed themselves to meet their honorable obligations. 

Speaking of this, our supreme court in the case of the People vs. 
the Auditor, 80 111., 439, truly said : "Never perhaps in the history of 
any state has a grander spectacle been presented than in the action of 
our people, when, in the darkest period of our infant history, public 
and private embarrassment being almost universal, in the voluntary 
uprising to subject themselves to a heavy tax, and shackle themselves 
for an indefinite period." 

Thus far we have sketched the early exploration, .settlement, and 
improvement of Illinois, showing in how brief a period, and from 
what small beginnings she has become an empire state. From 1845 to 
the present her history is one of unrivaled prosperity, and worthy of 
more extended notice than can be afforded here. Her immense immi- 
gration from every part of the union and from Europe; her superior 
educational, charitable, and religious institutions; her thousands of 
miles of railway in the last quarter of a century ; the patriotism and 
devotion of her gifted governor and people in sustaining the union 
cause, for which over 250,000 of her gallant sons went forth to battle in 
the recent war; and, finally, the rare unanimity with which her ad- 
mirable constitution was framed and ratified in 1870, are all grand his- 
torical way-marks in the cheering advancement of the state. Through 
four successive terms the nation has honored Illinois by the election 
of her eminent sons, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, to the 
presidency. 

Since her existence as a territory and state, Illinois has done well 
her part in the production of intellectual superiority and the promo- 
tion of the great works of national progress which have signalized the 
first century of our country's self-government, as the glory of history 
and the wonder of human achievements. The Hon. Sidney Breese, 
United States senator from Illinois, chairman of the committee on 
public lands in 1846, had the honor of making the first report in con- 
gress in favor of constructing the Pacific railway. Asa Whitney, Esq., 
of New York, had memorialized congress on the subject, and the mat- 
ter was referred to Judge Breese's committee. The report, as might 
have been expected from its author, was a very able and thorough 
discussion of the importance and practicability of the great undertak- 
ing, and, enlightening public sentiment, gave an impulse to the enter- 
prise, which continued to its successful completion. The original 
plan was to reach the ocean through Oregon, as California had not 
been acquired by the United States at the time of this first report. 

During the first century of our national being more has been done 
for the useful arts, the illumination of science, and the amelioration 
of mankind than informer ages. Perhaps we realize thi~ the more 
when we consider the condition of our country in 177(>. Then thirteen 
feeble colonies on the borders of the Atlantic, with a population of 



49 

3,000,000, and now thirty-eight powerful states, occupying a vast con- 
tinental region from Plymouth Rock to the Golden Gate, and from the 
Northern Lakes to the Southern Gulf, with a population between 40,- 
000,000 and 50,000,000. 

One hundred years ago, most of the area now occupied by Illinois, 
was a wilderness; her forests the home of the Indian and beasts of 
prey; and her prairies the grazing grounds of the deer, the elk, and 
the buffalo. 

Half a century ago, a little over, Illinois was admitted into the 
sisterhood of states. The sails of commerce had not then whitened 
the upper lakes, nor had a single steamer plowed their waters. 
Trade from abroad was carried on by means of a few inferior boats on 
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers; and Chicago, Quincy, Springfield, 
Peoria, Galena, Rockford, Aurora, Freeport, and other rising cities of 
the present were not surveyed till many years after. Chicago, now 
the emporium of the Northwest, did not have a post-office and mail 
conveyance till 1833, fifteen years after Illinois became a state, and 
then her eastern mail, now enormous through the daily arrival of 
railways, was brought on horse-back from Niles, Michigan, and only 
once a week. Breadstuffs and other provisions were procured from 
abroad for years to supply Chicago, now the greatest meat-market, 
grainery, lumber depot, and railway center on the globe. 

The first shipment of grain from Chicago eastward was of wheat — 
less than one hundred bushels, in 1838. And now that city excels all 
other cities in the world in the exportation of provisions. 

How the small beginning contrasts with some of the latter years, 
when the city has exported between sixty and seventy million bushels 
of grain, and her trade in cattle, hogs and lumber, over half a million 
head of cattle, a million and a half of hogs, and over one hundred mil- 
lion feet of lumber. Unrivaled in her commercial position as a busi- 
ness center, and surrounded by natural advantages ample for almost 
any colossal enterprise, Chicago seems destined to an unlimited 
growth. 

De Witt Clinton, after the completion of the Erie canal, New York, 
while considering the influence the great work would have on the 
settlement and development of the west, map in hand, pointed to the 
present region of Chicago, and said: "Some time a. great city will 
rise there. " 

The first street and lots ever laid out in Chicago were surveyed by 
James Thompson in 1828, the year of the prophetic statesman's de- 
cease. 

Illinois, in this centennial year of the nation, has reached a proud 
standing for a state so young. Her internal revenue, just paid into 
the United States treasury, exhibits the largest amount from any 
state, exceeding that of New York, the next highest, by over ten mil- 
lions of dollars. 

The internal revenues from Illinois, in report of 1875, was $17,626.- 
688; of New York, $15,200,000. 

Illinois became a territory with two counties, entered the union as 
a state with fifteen, and now has one hundred and two. Her popula- 
tion in 1809, when organized as a territory, was 9,000, and in 1810 was 
12,282. She entered the union in 1818 with a population of 40,000. 
In 1820 her population had increased to 55,162; in 1830, 157,445; in 



50 

1840, 476,483; in 1850, 851,470; 1860, 1,711,951; and 1870, 2,539,891. 
And with the progress of the state for the five years since the lasl 
census her population is greater than that of all the united col- 
onies one hundred years ago at the Declaration of American Inde- 
pendence. 



GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS. 

TERRITORY. 

Ninian Edwards. 1809 to 1818.- 

Nathaniel Pope acting temporarily about two months. 

STATE. 

Shadrach Bond, 1818 to 1822. 
Edward Cole, 1822 to 1826. 
Ninian Edwards, 1826 to 1830. 
John Reynolds, 1830 to 1834. 
Joseph Duncan, 1834 to 1838. 
Thomas Carlin, 1838 to 1842. 
Thomas Ford, 1842 to 1846. 
Augustus C. French, 1846 to 1848. 
Augustus C. French. 1848 to 1852. 

NEW CONSTITUTION. 

Joel A. Matteson, 1852 to 1856. 

William H. Bissell, 1856 to 1860. Died March 18, 1866. 

John Wood, Lieutenant Governor, ten months. 

Richard Yates, 1860 to 1864. 

Richard J. Oglesby, 1864 to 1868. 

John M. Palmer, 1868 to 1872. 

Richard J. Oglesby, 1872 to 1876. Resigned January, 18' 

John L. Beveridge, Lieutenant Governor, for the term. 



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